All but one Town Meeting article pass

All but one Town Meeting article passed on Tuesday, June 2, with the only article that wasn’t approved being a change to Dartmouth’s snow bylaws. Articles passed include the town’s $113 million Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget, a ban on cryptocurrency ATMs and several projects funded with money from the Community Preservation Committee.

Cryptocurrency ATM bylaw

Cryptocurrency ATMs across town must now be removed from stores, following Town Meeting’s approval to ban them.

At crypto ATMs, people can convert cash to cryptocurrency and send it to someone else.

Chief of Police Brian Levesque said that he was told by the FBI that these machines are “predominantly being used for fraud, to commit scams against people, trick them into putting their money into this machine.”

He added, “Once you do that, it’s nearly unrecoverable — you’re not going to get your money back.”

Levesque said that in 2025 up to $333 million was stolen through these machines across the country, an increase from $250 million in 2024.

He noted that a scam was reported in Dartmouth in the amount of $35,000.

“These aren’t small sums of money we’re talking about,” he said. “That could be someone’s entire life savings that gets taken from them and we’re not able to recover it in most cases.”

Businesses around town will now have 60 days to remove the machines once the bylaw goes into effect. 

Community Preservation Committee funds

Five projects proposed to be funded with Community Preservation Committee funds were approved.

 In addition to the 4 Tannery Lane conservation restriction, funds will be used to complete phase III of renovations to the DCTV building, install new lighting at Crapo Field, continue a restoration and renovation project at the Dartmouth Cultural Center and allocating $1,500,000 to an agricultural preservation fund, which would help preserve farmland. 

In total over $3.6 million is being allocated to these projects.

Snow removal bylaw

Town Meeting members voted to indefinitely postpone an amendment to the town’s snow bylaw that would’ve given residents more time to shovel snow off of the driveways near their home or business.

The current bylaw, written in 1947, gives residents four hours after a snowstorm to clear snow. After four hours residents can face a fine of $25.

If the change had been approved, residents would have had 24 hours after the snow stopped to clear sidewalks, or 24 hours after a declared snow emergency ends. The fine for residents with property within one mile of a school in a commercial corridor would have increased to $300 for every hour that the snow isn’t plowed.

“The reason for that is really public safety,” said Town Administrator Cody Haddad. “We need those sidewalks to be cleared, but we really need them where pedestrians are walking more often.”

While indefinitely postponed, the bylaw change could be added to a future Town Meeting warrant, including Fall Town Meeting later this year.